Free ArtsFest won't return in 2013

ArtsFest, the 10-year-old festival that provided close to 50,000 free cultural experiences to Central Floridians in 2012, will not be presented next year, United Arts officials confirmed Friday.

It was the first major public move by United Arts president Flora Maria Garcia, who started in her new role May 29.

Garcia termed the 2013 cancellation of ArtsFest a "one-year suspension" in a Friday message to her board of directors, a necessary hiatus as the agency evaluates its programs and services.

She said the decision was based on feedback from the arts community.

"The groups are more interested in us raising more money," Garcia said.

United Arts' fundraising supports more than 50 major arts and cultural organizations in Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties. The nonprofit also works to raise awareness of local arts groups through such initiatives as "The Arts Matter" website and ArtsFest, which in February featured more than 300 free events throughout the month.

"ArtsFest has meandered," said Elizabeth Gwinn, executive director of the Bach Festival Society, which has participated in ArtsFest since it began as a two-day event in 2003. "There wasn't always a concerted effort to say what's the most important aspect of ArtsFest. I am thrilled they're going to really measure what they're doing."

United Arts logged 45,784 "experiences" at this year's ArtsFest, which takes place in February to coincide with the nonprofit's annual fundraising campaign. United Arts does not measure attendance because a single person might experience multiple events.

That figure was up from the 40,145 in 2011, when the festival was 10 days long and had 220 free events.

"It's great to engage a new audience" with the free events, said Andrea Bailey Cox, executive director of the Art & History Museums-Maitland. "But how do we keep them coming back the rest of the year?"

She said the Maitland museums didn't see a correlation between those who attended free children's activities during ArtsFest and those who signed up for paying classes later in the year.

Jacki Negovetich of Winter Garden attended ArtsFest for the first time this year and was looking forward to the next one.

"It was a great way to see different cultural events, just to see what's available," she said.

She and a friend attended two events, including a Bay Street Players production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" in Eustis.

"Without ArtsFest, we would never have noticed the Bay Street Players," she said. She joined the Players' mailing list and plans to see some of the shows in the troupe's upcoming season.

Although Garcia said she appreciated the value of exposing the public to new arts opportunities, the bigger issue for United Arts is whether it should be the one to present such a festival.

"The event has lost focus, it's too diffused, it's not tied to the United Arts brand, it's too long," she said. "The feedback I am getting from the cultural community is that we [United Arts] should not be doing events."

Financial considerations also played a part in the decision. Bank of America, the primary sponsor since ArtsFest's inception, is less interested in the event this year, she said, and cost-cutting measures at United Arts mean "we just don't have the staff to manage it."

Trying to determine the payoff for events such as ArtsFest has become more important to businesses in a difficult economy, said Lonny Butcher, director of the Office for Career Connections at the University of Central Florida.

"You need to show that your actions are having a measurable outcome," Butcher said. "From a business perspective, that's a common approach."

He said United Arts' dual goals of raising money and arts awareness muddies the mission of ArtsFest.

"You don't want 'awareness' to be the only thing to get out of it," he said. "Awareness doesn't buy you cornflakes."

Butcher applauded Garcia's willingness to listen to her member organizations, but he cautioned that the public might be less understanding about losing such a popular festival, even for a year.

"From a business perspective, she's doing what a good leader should do," he said. "But sometimes that's not popular with everyone."

Putting ArtsFest on hiatus does not mean United Arts will stop promoting cultural experiences to solely focus on raising money, Garcia said.

"I think you need to do both. They're equally important," she said. "The question is: Are there more effective ways of raising awareness than ArtsFest?"

Garcia has created a task force to evaluate United Arts' programs, including ArtsFest. Its report will be presented to the full board of directors in the fall, Garcia said.

The festival still has the support of arts groups, said Gwinn of the Bach Festival.

"If they take a year off and figure out how to measure the results, I would be thrilled in 2014 to revisit it," she said. "How do you keep the momentum from ArtsFest going? That's really what we want."